New Changed Role for the Top Leaders

In this article you will find

-      What the present and future business-world holds for you as the Top-Leader

-      30 Questions that as the Top-Leader you must find answers for – if you want to survive

-      10 Broad action steps – those you must expand and customize to make it useful, implementable and practical

-      18 Qualities to look for in your successor AS WELL AS POLISH IN YOURSELF

-      9 Basic Understanding that you must imbibe to ride over this crisis

If you are the Top-Business-leader/Entity-head [a person with whom the buck finally stops for everything that happens to the business you are responsible for] – you are fully accountable for all the issues relating to the losses, the profitability, the survival, the growth etc. etc.

Even if you were in the complete control and doing very well - In this post corona world – you might be realizing that you are facing your biggest and most complex, complicated and toughest test right now.

There is a famous saying – "Even if you are on the right track – you would get run-over if you just sit on the track".

But in the new-normal post-corona world – there are hardly any right-tracks OR for that matter any track to follow.

Most of the massive challenges you are facing – does not have any reference or rule book available.

Our outlook and perspective have undergone complete transformation as to how we view - our work, travel, leisure, health, social relationships, spending-habits and family-relationships etc. etc.

Most of us have to acquire new skill-sets - as many of our old ones would become meaningless as well as redundant.

As an entity-head - you will have to rewrite, redesign and reinvent the future – and completely newer ways for the new normal.

And if you try to do everything all by yourself – probability of your falling flat on your face and failing will be very-very high.

Therefore, you need to have a team of your top people who have to be made totally made redundant like yourself – so that you along with them do the supposedly impossible task of leading your business to possible success.

30 Questions that as the Top-Leader you must find answers for

(and be 100% focused-on by giving your all energies and efforts)

1.   Finding out what you can do to generate revenue

2.   Creating a robust cash-flow management plan and controlling it directly

3.   What are going to be the skill-set that you and your employees going to need

4.   How to make sense from ambiguity

5.   How to be innovative enough to find the most effective marketing channels, marketing tools

6.   Understanding and finding the newer buying needs of your customers

7.   Understanding the newer buying habits of your customers

8.   Finding out how you can operate with the minimum manpower and maximum technology

9.   How to reduce the cost to the minimum

10. How to redesign, rewrite reinvent your products, services and offerings to suit the new business and economic culture and environment

11. What value proposition that you can create for your clients

12. How to manage your debtors and lenders

13. What position would you attain after this pandemic has eased down to find the directions where you are headed

14. Should you shut down the business and reopen – when things are better – would you be able to regain the lost ground

15. Are you going bust and on the way to be bankrupt

16. What can you do to emerge as market leader among your competitors and in the mind of your customers

17. Can you initiate developments during this crisis to emerge as more resilient organization

18. What type of strategies and planning would help you bounce-back OR survive

19. What completely new projects you can launch with your existing capabilities– which also makes business sense

20. Which capabilities you need to develop to survive AND which ones you need to remain growing in future

21. Which are the critical resources that you must guard with full control

22. Which type of new employees can add value to your plan

23. Which employees and how many of them - you would need to let go

24. How best you can manage your resources

25. How you can fill the resource gap and crunch

26. What are your top-most priority – run business, pay employees, pay vendors – which one to hold and which one to give

27. How much you and your team and your organization is ready for – to execute new planning and strategies

28. And most important how can you remain sane, cool and with minimum viable stress

29. Because of this immutable need – you need to create succession planning at all the major decision-making levels on war-footing - CHOOSE PEOPLE BASED ON THEIR INNOVATIVE, DISRUPTIVE, LEADERSHIP TRAITS AND QUALITIES

30. In case you don't do it – you will find yourself overwhelmed with such operational tasks that you will cease to be a leader anymore.

10 Broad action steps

1.   Events are unfolding with astounding speed, and the picture changes on a daily basis – therefore being updated with the latest development acquires a new power

2.   Think critically about the source of the information before acting on it – beware of information overload

3.   Don't just assume that expert opinions and their forecasts is sacrosanct – as they differ – so you must use your judgement, intuition and gut-feeling

4.   Constantly reframe and challenge your understanding of what’s happening and your assumptions – be as flexible as you can

5.   Ensure that you cut the red-tape completely  

6.   Empower your people with skills, resources and authorities to enable them to take crucial decisions

7.   Using this covid19 crisis to get your entire organization prepare for the readiness for next crisis (or the next phase of the current crisis) now is likely to be much more effective than an ad-hoc measures

8.   The possibilities of your high-potential employees leaving your organization - in this uncertain world is also too large – as many businesses will be looking for sure shot-winners – preparing for successors for all the critical roles should be among your top priorities

9.   Bring a small team together and share the challenge with them- Brainstorm all possible solutions and then as a group narrow them down to those that most believe are most feasible to implement and stand a good chance of solving the problem. Evaluate your top three and create an implementation plan

10. Create few champions, some sponsors and lots of owners for all these action plans

18 Qualities to look for in your successor AS WELL AS POLISH IN YOURSELF

1.   They should be original thinkers

2.   They should be the skeptics who challenge almost everything

3.   They ask why it can't be done other way and suggest different methods

4.   They come out with simple, implementable yet effective solutions

5.   They get excited with ambiguity and can create clarity when there seems to be none

6.   They don't give up till they find a way

7.   They can view things from various perspectives and angles

8.   They get ideas – which at the time looks ridiculous – but few of them seems very helpful when options run out

9.   Routine stuff bores them

10. They are passionate about learning and when facing something that they don't have any idea – they spend time to understand

11. They don't have ego and learn from everyone

12. They pivot fast – when they find their ideas, process or methods are not working

13. They don't have any hesitation in admitting that they have made mistake

14. They are able to work solo as well as in team

15. They are always talking about future trends

16. They experiment a lot

17. They are not bothered by failures – instead failures motivate them to try even in more uncertain areas vigorously

18. They get charged by challenges

For full read "Changing Role of The Top Leaders" in Success Unlimited Mantra's blog section "from the Heart of Subhashis"